Wildlife reserve worker 'torn' by lions while taking 'night walk'

Joannes Matshe, 30, was walking in Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng, South Africa, when a wild lion pounced on him , ripping the skin from his skull and the flesh from his bones in a ruthless attack

Dinokeng Game Reserve, which covers 19,000 hectares of rural Gauteng (

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A wildlife sanctuary employee was mauled by a lion while out walking after dark during the big cat hunt.

Joannes Matshe, 30, who worked at Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng, the province where Johannesburg is located, was walking through the reserve after dark on Sunday evening when disaster struck.

The vicious creature lunged at him, ripping flesh from his bones in a relentlessly brutal attack. Footage from the scene, which has not been released due to its graphic nature, shows how the lion scalped its skin from its skull. His leg bone, also stripped of flesh, was seen sticking out of the boot he used to trudge through the shrine, MailOnline reports.

An operations officer came across Mr Matshe's remains around breakfast time at 10.37am on Monday morning, according to reserve spokesman Hartogh Streicher. Mr. Streicher pointed out that employees were strictly prohibited from walking in the park after sunset.

The head of the reserve took the opportunity to warn people not to walk in the park during lion hunting hours (

Picture:

Getty Images)

Mr. Streicher offered his condolences to the family of the victim, but took the opportunity to remind people of the dangers of not following the reservation's safety rules, which are in place due to...